Accidentally in Love
by XiaoyuKaede
Summary: Xiao Qiao finds guys to be very annoying, especially the mean stuckup ones. But, as soon as the man she really hates to show up again in her life, what will happen? Also, will life in the palace be the same again? Is it love or hate forming there? XQ x ZY
1. Introduction: Nostalgia

First of all, I AM EXTREMELY BORED and have nothing else to do in my free time. I could be playing videogames and all but my parents and sis are complaining their butts off that i play WAY too much of it. HUMPH...they just understand videogames the way that i do. i mean i can practically play videogames like eight hours straight with no breaks in between (besides the B-room) and all...i know...its seems like im addicted but hey, thats me. well...i borrowed the 5th DW game from my cousin and ive been playing it ever since i borrowed it and only play it when i manage to have the time to. i'd say its an okay game with its pros and cons here and there...although the musou mode seems to be really repetitive. But oh well...its still a cool game. 

**DISCLAIMER: I'LL NEVER EVER OWN THIS GAME AND THE CHARACTERS. In real life, they own themselves. Believe it or not...this game is based on actual Chinese History!! that's sorta cool...**

**NOTE: I'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND MAKE IT EASIER ON MYSELF BY ONLY CALLING THE PEOPLE HERE BY THEIR 1ST NAME**.

SUCH AS: **_SUN SHANG XIANG -XIANG_**

**_ LING TONG -TONG_**

...and so on...you get it right? i hope so...besides there's not a whole lot of people here in this story so yeah. but then, people like Xiao and Da Qiao...they'll be known as XIAO and DA.

* * *

_(10 years ago)_

_"AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"_

_A scratchy scream ran all throughout the halls as the victim's voice had toned down into mumbles._

_"OW! S-STOP IT!!! I-IT HURTS!!!" Xiao sobbed, banging her fists on her abuser's hands._

_Yu stared at her strangely and tugged on her hair a little bit harder than his last attempt. "This is what you get for being an annoying brat. I told you to stop kicking me there!"_

_"B-but Da says that they're not jello. So I kicked you to tell her that they are made of jello. She won't believe me!!" Xiao explained, kneeling on the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks._

_Yu scowled at her and pulled at her pigtails with the same strength he exerted. "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL MY BUTT IS MADE OF JELLO, STUPID!!" He gripped her hair tighter and gently released it, scoffing slightly as he watched Xiao fall flat faced on the ground._

_Xiao scrambled to sit herself back up in a kneeling position and crossed her arms in a lock. "Yeah right, you don't even know what jello is." She pouted as her cheeks had puffed up a bit from her gesture._

_"I know that it isn't my butt!" Yu retorted, scrunching his eyebrows._

_"Well...since I'm so smart---and you're not, it's some kind of food that people in the west eat."_

_Yu had fallen back a tidbit after her response. "My butt isn't for dinner."_

_Xiao threw out her tongue and showed an expression of gagging. "Eww..." A few seconds later, she shook her mind off the thought and sighed. "I guess Da was right...people's butts aren't made of jello..."_

_Yu once again scoffed and sneered at her. "You're mentally retarded. Butts made out of jello...c'mon!" He hovered up his shoulders and shrugged._

_"HEY!" she yelled back. "You didn't even know what jello is!!!"_

_Yu raised his eyebrows._

_"It's your butt!!"_

_"I thought it was some kind of food that western people eat."_

_"Oh yeah..." Xiao examined her feet and claimed defeat solemnly._

_Yu sighed heavily and walked off, his last words to her being, "Proves my point. You're born retarded and you'll stay retarded."_

_His words reverberated in her mind as he trailed off. She grumbled to herself and shot herself off the ground and chased after him in full pursuit. "HEEEEYYYYY!!! GGGEEEETTTT BBBBAAACCCKKK HHHEEEEERRRRRRREEEEEEEEE!!!!! I'll show you I'm not stupid!!!!!!!!"_

...and so she went...fighting back with him verberally...and it remained that way years and years later...

* * *

"UGH!!! That guy..." Xiao hissed sourly, increasing the limit of her sister's annoyance scale past its peak. She continued spitting out her complaints and tugged at her hair in anger with a basket full of her pulled out hair in the corner. She grumbled more to herself and thunked her bottom on a seat facing a mirror as she brushed her hair repeatedly. "LOOK AT WHAT HE DID!!! THERE'S STILL A BALD SPOT FROM WHEN HE PULLED MY HAIR TEN YEARS AGO!!! DA!!!! LOOOOOOOKKKKKKK AAATTT WWWWHHHHAAATTTTT HHHHHEEEEE DDIIIIIIDDDD!!!!!' Xiao whined, hopping up and down from her seat as her sister sighed in a not-so-calm-but-trying-to-act-like-it-way. 

"You know, pulling your hair out even more won't help the baldness of your head go away, Xiao." Da replied rationally.

Xiao whisked at her a glare and scrunched her nose as she pouted. "I'm just trying to even it out."

"By adding more bald spots to your head?"

"No! By making my hair it look thinner." She explained, thrashing her forehead down to the table she sat near by.

Da raised a brow at her and giggled. "That happened ten years ago, Xiao. You were 6 and "he" was 8. Little kids always fight over the smallest things...what was it that the two of you were arguing about?"

"Jello."

"What's jello again?"

Xiao hesitated a moment and tapped a pointed against her chin. "His butt?"

Da stared blankly at her sister for a brief moment. "...you're not too bright are you?...I thought it was some food that people in the west eat."

Xiao blinked a constantly for a few seconds and slammed her fist into her palm. "Oh yeah! That one! I remember!!" Xiao chortled to herself. "But yeah...I'm just glad that he isn't going to come back here again. UGH!!! The nerve of that guy!!! I can't stand it!!!"

Da brought herself up to her feet and yawned as he stretched out her arms. "Yu? I think that he's a very nice man. I don't think he's anything like from what you are describing him."

"That so?" Xiao questioned in suspicion. "I guess he is only nice to women that actually don't look like men." She sank in her chair and sighed deeply.

"What are you talking about? You don't look like a guy."

"Whatever you say, sis. Old men are bald just so you know. I guess a sixteen year old like myself already looks like an old man..."

Da laughed at her remark and covered her mouth while doing so. "You make it sound like you're calling yourself a transexual, Xiao."

Xiao jolted from her seat and eyed her with a death glare. "AM NOT!!!"

"I'm just kidding, Xiao. Well...I guess you're just going to have to adjust to it then." Da added on, placing her hands on her hips.

Xiao stood there in confusion. "With looking like an old man or living my entire life in baldness?"

Da walked over to the window and lifted up the curtain and allowed the cool crisp breeze to slide into the room. She inhaled a lung full of air and smiled to herself with her back facing Xiao--unknown to her that she was happy about something...sinister... well...not really...

"Well..." Xiao said impatiently. "What is it?"

Da swove her head back around to face her younger sister and then she placed a pointer over her mouth. "Didn't you know that the Sun Family is coming back here again?"

Xiao's heart leaped from excitement. "Really?...I guess that's a good thing...I mean Xiang's coming back right?At least THAT guy isn't going to come back here again."

"What made you think that? He's coming along too."

Xiao's world paused for a second as her ears twitched automatically.

The room stayed silent as a gust of wind blew past the two of them.

"Eh? You mumbled. What did you say?"

Da shook her head in astonishment and walked toward the door. "Yu is coming back here as well...the Sun Family lives with him too remember? So...it's like whenever they go, he goes too. He's like part of the family as well."

The younger Qiao ran up to her sister and frantically shook her in violent movement. "AHHH!!! DDDDAAA!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?!!! I WOULD'VE BEEN PLANNING OUT SOMETHING FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS TO GET BACK AT HIM FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT HE'S DONE TO ME!!!!!!!!!" Xiao practically screamed, her throat cracking with each word that she spoke. "I swear...I thought that the last time he was here was the last time he'll see me again for the rest of his life!!!! OH! This isn't good..."

Da turned the knob of the door open and gently smiled at her. "I guess what I was going to tell you wouldn't make you feel any better..." Her words trailed off, only leading toward Xiao's overactive curiousity.

"Just say it..." Xiao replied threateningly, her red hot face beginning to turn into a ripe tomato.

Da shrugged her shoulders and just blurted it out like that. "They're coming back today."

Xiao stood there frozen as the last word repeated in her mind over and over again. She remained there in her "traumatized" state and swung her body a bit from anger. "TTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????? YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS ARE YOU?!?!"

"What makes you think that?" She answered coolly. "I guess I'll go ahead and let you cool down your steam for now. I think that they're coming before dinner. So, until then...you won't have to see him." Da stepped out the door and inched the door away from its lock before she shut the door closed entirely. She took the time to peep through the provided space and examine her sister's reaction.

Xiao sat on her bed, sulking and with her trademark pose: a childish pout with crossed arms. "I can see you, Da."

"Oh." Da backed away from the door and giggled to herself. "I'll be on my way now, alright? See you at dinnertime!!!" She chirped, speedwalking down the hall with anxiety.

Xiao threw her pillow at the door and screamed inside her throat. "UGH...I'd rather starve myself to death than seeing that guy one more time..." She told herself, blocking the sunlight away from her eyes. "But then...this place is way too big for me to actually run into him...so I might end up hiding away from him for the next five years or so without him having any contact with me in person. Haha yeah!" She rose herself up to sit in a squatting position and grinned to herself. "It's like he's not even here at all! HAHA! YEAH!!" Xiao hopped off her bed and marched over to her door, jolly from her new idea and exited out, still giggling to herself. She was, from some weird and stupid reason, walking with eyes closed and she ended slamming her face right into a wall that lay parallel away from her. "Oww..." She moaned, clutching her nose and softly pressing against it to find any sign of it broken. "That hurt..."

A solid, high-pitched laugh came from right behind her as Xiao placed her forehead against the wall. "Haha Xiao. I guess you still haven't changed at all. Your personality and looks." The short haired brunette girl had walked up toward her and faced her at a close range. "Yup, everything's the same...that's good."

Xiao shook from fright and jumped backward swiftly. "XIANG!? You're already here?"

Xiang chuckled to herself and patted Xiao's head. "Yeah, even my dad, Ce, Quan, an--"

"Say that name, and I'll punch you." Xiao popped her knuckles as Xiang gulped in fear.

Immediately, Xiang straightened her posture as she gained back her composure. "Why? Are you two having a lover's quarrel or something like that?" She had her hands hidden behind her back and acted as though she was entirely naive of the situation.

"No! That's never gonna happen!!! I'll die if something like that happens!!!" Xiao said.

"Well...I still don't see what wrong with the two of you."

"He's a bully. He's done way too many mean things to me. There's too many to list."

Xiang scratched her head, giving out an expression of surprise. "It's kinda hard to believe that somebody actually doesn't like Yu."

Xiao brain had exploded when she had heard that name again. "That name..." She hissed.

"Maybe your just overreacting, don't you think?"

"I really hate him though..." Xiao sighed to herself and shrugged after her friend's question. "I think I'll go on ahead. I need to go and grab something to eat."

Xiang nodded in approval and greeted her goodbye as she resumed loitering through the hallway. "I'll see you later, ok?" She called out.

* * *

"Oh gosh, he's already here. I hate this..." She murmured to herself almost silently. She made her ways throughout the palace and made use of her surroundings to stay hidden from "his" sight. At the last turn to head for the kitchen, she had abruptly fell down to the ground, her eyesight suddenly flying around the room randomly. "Ow..." She raised her head slightly and gripped the ground that she sat on to bring herself up. Slowly, towering her face almost completely up, she noticed that the person that she had bumped into was a man after taking a short glimpse of his muscular setup of his body. She gulped painfully as her heart pounded against her chest, her heart wanting to escape from its confined chamber. She kept her vision toward the ground and tried to make her way past the side ofthe man, in hopes that it wasn't the man that she had tried to avoid all her life. Suddenly, her breath was caught in a web when the deep voice of the man called out to her saying the same words that "he" always called her, "Hey retard."

* * *

OKIE DOKIE! I'LL WRAP UP THE 1ST CHAPPIE RIGHT...HERE!!! GOSH, I'M TIRED...(YAWNS)...i dunno if this story is any good...but since its basically the intro chappie, you can't really expect much huh? well...i promise to add more fun and wackiness in this story that you'll luv it!!! 

(Sighs) it would be nice though...to have lots and lots of reviews...it would make me happy...

Ah well...i'll u guys soon...well...only if you review...that is...

-XiaoyuKaede


	2. Game Time

oh man. i wish there was a way for me to stay on something for a LOONNGGG time. i would really like to wrap this story up someday and not just "throw it out" the same way i usually do when i write stories. it's one hell of a bummer. at any rate, i've had a little inspiration to continue this story. you all should really watch RED CLIFF. it's a pretty good movie. not sure if you all heard of it, but it includes xiao qiao and her hubby. how cute. haha.

DISCLAIMER: i do not own this.

note: i have decided to change yu's age to 21 instead of 18. it just seems more appropriate in this case.

**ANOTHER NOTE: **_anything that is italized means that thats the characters' thoughts_

**ANOTHER OTHER NOTE:** i'd like to thank the people who reviewed the first chapter. i was really happy. oh yeah. THE HELL I'M NOT GONNA STOP WRITING THIS STORY, yuanshao. i loved the way you insulted me. it made me laugh. totally made my day :) and yes, i meant that in all seriousness too.

* * *

Xiao rubbed her eyes as her pace quickened. _Just what kind of mess have I gotten myself into? All of this has to be karma..._ She pulled at her silky, white shorts and bit her lower lip.

"Hey." The voice called out to her from behind.

Xiao kept walking, her feet almost stomping hard on the ground while her feet sped faster.

"Hey. Listen to me when I'm talking to you." _It's "him", for sure. There's no doubt about it. The voice is deep and mature, just like how I imagine him to be. There's no one else who could talk to me with that tone._ Xiao's face turned red as her body temperature rose.

Xiao jumped when she heard the man's feet slowly approach her. She panicked, a sweat drop falling down the side of her forehead.

The man's feet turned into a rampant tapping against the floor. He was quickly gaining on her. "Xiao. Stop!"

Xiao ran. "GO AWAY!!" There was no use on holding back--she had to get away from there. Her legs overruled her mind, and she kept moving, not stopping.

"Xiao. Get back here." The voice called out, chasing after her. He lounged forward and pulled out a hand to catch her wrist.

All of a sudden, a thought came out of her mind. It bothered her that something made no sense. _Wait...something's not right. His voice is too gentle._ Her legs seemed to have slowed down on their own. Her running had decreased into a slow jog and soon, a casual walk. She panted, both from exhaustion and anxiety and took in a long inhale to retrieve her composure. She stared at the ground and felt ashamed of herself for acting like such a fool.

"Xiao..." The man's hand got hold of her wrist, and he gripped it, making sure that she wasn't going to go loose. "What was that about? Why were you running away from me?"

Tears began to build from the corners of her eyes. She had no idea where these tears came from, but she welcomed them, for they had calmed her down. She slowly turned her head to the right and allowed the tears to drop. In an instant, she hugged the man and sobbed on his chest. "I'm sorry, Sun Ce. I really didn't mean to run off like that." She clenched the tassles hanging from his top and shifted her head to the side to wet an area that wasn't drenched yet. "I was just so scared." Xiao sniffed violently that her words weren't made clear to him entirely. Ce had no idea what was going on or what made her so frightened at first. But he smiled lightly, and held her lovingly as if she was his own sister.

"It's not like you hate me or anything, right?" Ce tried to laugh off, watching her retreat from her caressed position. She swiped the tears away from her eyes and stroked away the tears that were tumbling down her cheeks. He held her shoulders to keep her firm and then, playfully squeezed her nose. "Right?..."

Xiao yelped, whincing from the pain. Ce laughed as he let go. "N-no. I don't." She gently pinched her nose with her thumb and forefinger and massaged it side to side to release the pain. She drew out her arm and wiped her runny nose. Ce watched her amused and crossed his arms, awaiting her response. "Well..."

Arms still crossed, he let out a soft grunt to show her that he was listening. He moved over to the wall and leaned against it. "Yes? I'm listening right now. Better hurry up, or I'll forget what I'm doing here. You know me."

Xiao stared at him with her slightly pink eyes and chuckled, shielding her mouth with a clenched fist as she did. "You know, when I saw you, I was just so happy that I started to cry. I was a little scared as well."

Ce scoffed and tilted his head to the ceiling. "You lie. I know you well enough to decipher whether or not you tell the truth. Now, tell me."

For Xiao, it was futile to try and lie to him. He was just too good. She could even tell that from the way he scrutinized her that he was growing impatient. "So, how's your friend Yu doing?" She shook involuntarily from having to force that name out of her mouth. More than anything, she wanted to salt her tongue so badly.

Apparently, the attempt to change the subject matter was a complete failure.

Sun Ce knitted his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head. "Ok...I'm just going to assume that he's the problem. What about him?"

DAMN. He's way too good. "With the way you're saying that, it's as if you trying to imply I'm scared of him."

"Alright then. I'm going to assume that you're scared of him."

Just too damn good..."Just where are you getting all these ideas from?" There was one word to describe her: a dummy. She didn't know that she was the one giving him all the answers.

"Xiao..." He walked up to her and wrapped one of his arms around her neck as he used his other hand to butcher her hair. "Oh Xiao Xiao Xiao...You really haven't changed one bit. You got to admit, but I find that quite lovable about you." His laugh echoed all throughout the hallway as Xiao's yells joined the squawking.

"Ehh!! Let me go. I can't breathe." She gripped his arm that held her down and tried to pull it away from her. "Ce!!" Xiao struggled to be free from his grasp while the two of them spun in circles from the movement. "Let go!" She stood in a tight, steady position and did her best to lift his arm up. With both hands, she raised his arm up high and elbowed him in the stomach as soon as he was open. Ce let out a grumble and grabbed his stomach and fell a few steps back from the blow.

In a few moments, he stood sturdy and recovered, even though the pain stung. "Haha. You're just like Shang Xiang now." He rolled his eyes as his eyelids drooped. "How...cute..."

"Geez. Aren't you old enough to know when to stop acting like a child?" She shouted in anger.

"Hmph. Keep talking, kid."

"Even though I'm 16, I know better than you to fool around like that. I mean, you're 22 years old. You need to stop playing stupid games."

Ce squinted his eyes and observed her frustration. "You know, there's something deep down in my gut that's telling me you were gonna pull a prank on good ol' Yu. Now, weren't you?"

She puffed her cheeks out and swung her head to the side. "Yeah right. Like I said, I'm too old for that kind of nonsense."

"Got to break it to you," Ce continued on, cupping his chin with a hand. "You can't lie to save your life."

Xiao glared so badly flames were glowing from her pupils. "If that's the case, I'm sure you won't mind me telling Da how you tried to attack me."

"What? Ok. I know that that's a lie."

With a smile crawling on the corner of her mouth, she whisked her pointer at him. "Even so...I'm sure Da will listen. She believes in anything...unlike you." She walked backwards and dashed away after a few steps.

"If you enjoy playing games, then I'll show you how to have fun when playing them." Xiao yelled back at him, storming off in the distance.

Ce's eyes popped out. He suddenly began to yelp from deep down inside his throat and felt his body himself jump out of his skin. "What?! Xiao! Get back here!!"

* * *

"How many times do I have to keep this up?" Ling Tong yawned, stretching his arms straight up. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his itchy nose. Gan Ning didn't look too happy. "There's really no point on trying to do something you know you're not capable of doing." Ling chortled and then rose a hand up to pick up the king chess piece. He sat there, pretending to contemplate on the next move and then slammed the piece onto the board. "Check mate."

Gan's eyebrows arched an angry curve. In total aggravtion, he grabbed hold of the chessboard from the bottom and flung it towards his sworn rival. Ling sat in a stoic position, excusing the strikes of the random chess pieces that were aimed at him. "The hell it ain't! What kind of cheapass kind of game are you trying to make a fool out of me anyway?!" He spat, standing up from his seat. Without hesitation, he took both sides of his seat and brought it above his head, getting ready to target Ling. "I've had it with this game!!" He slung both of his arms forward and was about to release the chair until Ling interrupted his next move.

Ling had a hand out in front of him, signaling Gan to calm down and to spare him at the same time. "...Don't you think you're taking this a little too far? I'm only 20. I don't want to die yet." He coolly said, dragging the chairs' legs back to get away from Gan's imminent action.

"Awhh. Dammit!" He threw the chair down to the ground as hard as he could and a loud snap broke out. The two men looked at the now broken seat, and Ling shook his head in astonishment.

Ling moved his head towards Gan and eyed him in a comical way. "It's a shame you have to pay for that."

Gan spat out to the side and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, whatever."

"I really doubt you'll say that when Sun Jian hears about this. These ARE his things. And you DIDN'T pay for it with your own money." He said these with much emphasis and laughed to himself as he leaned back in his chair.

The pirate felt the urge to throw something at him after hearing his perpetual wise-cracking again. "Whatever. The next time we dual again, I'll make sure I'll pick the game, and the charges." He grabbed the feather that he kept up in his headband and chewed on the end of it.

A mischievous smile was suddenly on Ling's mouth. "Speaking of which...since you lost against me, you got to pay up five meat buns."

"Fine, fine. But I swear, the next time I win...you have to get me..." He raised a hand up to scratch his head. Ling awaited his response and had his arms crossed. "You have to get me..." He began, suddenly blushing to Ling's surprise. "...a girlfriend."

Ling's ears rang for a few seconds, and he smacked his head to make sure he wasn't hearing things. "What was that?"

Gan pouted, sucking on his lower lip. "You heard me."

His eyes widened. He bit his thumb to contain his himself as he began to start over his question. He was sure his ears weren't deceiving him...or at least, that's what he wanted to believe in. "You just said...you wanted to have--"

Gan stared blankly at him. "...There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a--"

"...GIRLFRIEND?!" He exploded, causing Gan to draw an aura of confusion around him. Ling cleared up his throat and straightened his posture. "Well, if that's the case, then I have no other choice than to abide by it."

"Hah." Gan slowly walked over to his "somewhat friend" and placed a strong hand on Ling's shoulder. He glared at him deep into his eyes and shut one eye. "There's no problem in that." He looked at his fellow comrade and noticed how pale Ling was looking. He cautiously moved his hand away from his shoulder and backed up a few steps. "You ok?"

"Yeah." He said simply. "I never thought you were the type to care about that kind of stuff."

"I guess you just don't know me."

"Why are you asking me for something like this anyway?"

"Let's just say it's an easy way to get a girl when you have someone else doing it."

"Why...me?" Ling raised an eyebrow.

"...That's 'cause...you're the only person that can do stuff for me."

"Is that so?"

Gan nodded. "Yeah." He said, placing the feather back on his head. "...besides, you're the top guy who can actually score a chick here."

Looking back at his seat, Ling walked towards it and planted his bottom in the seat. "Aren't you lucky with any of the girls at all?"

Gan walked around in circles, trying to find a place to sit himself since his chair broke into pieces. "You honestly think that of me?"

"In all sincerity, yes I do." Ling placed a leg over the other and sat in his chair, having an elbow resting on the arm of the seat. "Oh wait." A grin crawled onto the corners of his mouth. Ling admitted that he considered himself to not be a bad guy. But, the fact that he was suddenly becoming friendly to this guy made his brain scream. "Now that I think about it, I was walking in the hallway a few weeks ago, and I heard these girls talk about how you tried to get at one of them. They said that you were some kind of demon of some sort."

The man stomped towards him. "A demon?"

"Yeah. You heard me."

The pirate felt his temper slowly flaring. He approached Ling and sat on the gaming table to face him. "Did they explain why they thought of me like that?"

"Other than the fact they said your voice sounds like a dying walrus...I don't know why they think of you as such." Ling shrugged his shoulders and closed both of his eyes. He was clearly enjoying the false deception that he was playing at him.

Gan stayed quiet for the next few minutes as Ling watched him in content. Ling scratched his head, wondering what else to do in this awkward situation. "Don't worry though. IF you do win the next time, I'll get you a girl that you'll like."

Ling continued staring at Gan and sighed. "It's only one girl. There's nothing to get so--"

"THE HELL WITH THIS!" Gan screamed so loudly that everything in the room shook. Ling's vision became double, and he stayed calm, trying to hide away the shock he just had.

Ling plugged a finger into his ear and then took it out once his ear stopped vibrating. Agitated, he kicked Gan on the knee and held a deadly look on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you know how to calm down? God, you're such an idiot." He brushed off a bang that strayed in front of one of his eyes.

"...hmph. Whatever." He replied ignorantly and slouched down. Ling looked back at him annoyed and returned to his death glare.

The silence consumed both men, and they sat there, fumbling about with their own thoughts.

"Xiao! Get back here!" Ce called after her. He ran as fast as feet were able to go, and even if he was exhausted, he carried on. "Xiao. Stop running away from me." Ce ran off away from a view that could be seen from both Gan and Ling. Both men watched dumbfoundedly.

"What do you think that was about?" Gan inquired out loud, not knowing he let his thoughts go out spoken.

Ling shook his head to show that he had no idea himself. A thought sprang out of his mind, but he hesitated whether or not to say it. "You don't think they're a couple, do you?"

"Doubt it. Thought Ce was crushing over Da." Gan answered back quickly.

"That was then. Things change over the course of ten years."

"I guess..." Gan yawned. "At any rate, I'm gonna tell Da that Ce is after her sis. You in?"

"Eh. Nothing else better to do in my time." Ling responded, surprised that he actually agreed with him. "You think that Xiao girl is anything special?"

Gan questions seemed to have grown larger in number. "Nope. Why ask?"

"Let's just say Ce liked Xiao...wouldn't she have two guys after her then? The other being being Zhou Yu."

Gan laughed, clutching his sides at the thought. "Hah. Yu as well? That's surprising."

"I'm not too sure about Yu since I'm just placing a guess here, but from the looks of it, there's something about that girl."

Gan rolled his eyes and popped his knuckles. "There's nothing great about her. If I ever happened to be one of the guys that just happened to fall in "love" with her "charm", you make sure you slice my head off, yeah?" He gestured the action by having his forefinger slide across his neck.

Ling laid out a hand for him to shake. "That's a promise." Gan looked at him and saw the desire in Ling's eyes to fulfill that deed. He regretted it now.

Gan slapped down Ling's hand and rolled his eyes again.

"Dammit man. The next time you say something, make sure you mean it." Ling retorted, angered.

"It's not like you can do any better."

"Oh yeah? I can tell you that if I said I would never find any interest with a girl like Xiao, you can bet that I mean it like hell." Ling justifed, feeling quite dignifed in his answer.

Gan's ears twitched and became jumpy. "It seems as though you're challenging me to another contest..."

"Hah. Is that where you're getting at?"

"You can bet that I mean it like hell."

"Well, fine. The first one who ends up liking Xiao loses. Is that a deal?" Ling offered his hand again and had a nefarious look pasted on his face. Gan agreed without a single thought and laughed to himself. "Oh. Like you said, if you win, I had to find a girlfriend for you. Let's just say I already found one for you. How's that?"

Gan slapped his leg in annoyance. "Damn...I hate you like shit." He grumbled, standing up and walking slowly away from Ling. "One of these days, you're really gonna get it."

Ling rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Hey. What's fair is fair. You can't break the rules. It's a game after all. You gotta follow them. Win a game, the loser does the other a favor. Those were your rules, after all. You only have yourself to blame."

Gan dragged his feet towards the door and held the door knob, as he said: "You're nothing but trouble, you brat." He looked back at him and stared hard for a few moments.

Tap. Tap. Feet were heard coming toward his direction.

In an instant, Gan turned his head toward the person coming his way. His eyes widened as he found Yu coming towards him and felt somewhat relieved. As soon as Yu came into close range with him, he stared at him in the most unfriendly manner. Yu seemed to be in a bad mood. "Hey there, Yu. It's been a while since the last time I've seen you."

Yu returned the greeting in a monotone voice and then made his way to Ling, who also greeted him. "Hey Yu. What are you doing here?" Ling chirped in a happy-go-lucky attitude. He waited for the man to answer and saw that he gave him a cold, stern look glare.

Yu sighed and crouched down to search under the table where Gan and Ling played. "I'm afraid I forgot something here. I think I placed it under this table before I left."

Ling looked at Gan to see if he knew what Yu was talking about. Gan looked blank, and Ling returned his gaze to watch Yu. "Sorry Yu. There was nothing under this table as far as we know. Maybe what you're looking for is in some other room."

"No." Yu's voice replied bluntly. "I know it was here. I don't forget things I like this."

"If that's the case, you shouldn't have lost it then." Gan remarked, leaning against the door. Yu stared at him and smirked.

"I don't lose my things, I just misplace them."

Gan scoffed. "Oh. Hah. I guess that makes all the difference then doesn't it?" His sarcasm made Yu throw him a dirty look of disgust.

Yu got himself up and walked back to where Gan was and carefully looked at him. "I'll take your word that it wasn't here then. I'll see the two of you later." He walked away briskly, shoving Gan's shoulder with his own as he walked on by.

He rubbed his shoulder in order to soothe the pain and gritted his teeth. "Once and ass, always an ass. That's all to it." Gan muttered, letting go of his arm.

Ling murmured as a sign of his approval. "I guess I can take that back then. Some people don't change."

"Sure seems like it." Gan swung his hurt arm in vertical motion and popped his neck. "Well...I'm off to wreak some havoc around this place. I just gotta find Da first and tell her Ce's after her little sis." He grabbed the door handle and opened the door slightly ajar. "Haha. This is gonna be fun. You coming?"

The man gave out a gentle "hmph" and hopped up from his seat. "I have nothing better to do with my time anyway. I guess it's fun to go around and change things that haven't changed yet."

Gan nodded but let out a "whatever" as they exited out the door.

"...I mean. Life's just a game." Ling remarked, giving out a roar of laughter out.

"You can't take it too seriously."

Gan looked at him questionably and brought a hand to fan himself. "Yeah yeah. Whatever you say..."

* * *

"Xiao." Da whispered, opening her sister's bedroom door a little bit. There was no response. She peeked through the open space and pushed the door wide open. She stepped into the room, observing what lay in front of her. "Hm...I wonder where that girl went. I was sure she was going to stay in this room for a long time." She scanned the room and noticed an open letter sitting on Xiao's mirror stand. No matter how much she tried to not pry into other people's business, this one gave her the impression she would find something juicy and interesting. Still having the door in her grasp, in haste, she quietly shut the door and pranced over to the stand.

She snatched it and brought it to her hands. She was disappointed at how crumpled and unsightly it looked but dealt with its appearance. Da laid the letter flat out on the stand and straightened it as good as possible. She skimmed through it. "Why, this is Yu's handwriting..." Her eyes opened wide and scrutinitzed it. She looked at it carefully to make sure she was right.

"So I wasn't seeing things..." Da returned the letter to its former position and went to the door. She walked away, wishing that she didn't read what was written.

* * *

well. here's the second chapter. it's been like two years since i last wrote this story. i find that amazing.

anyways, please read and review. i would love some constructive criticism as well. i feel like i need some of that. flames are NOT appreciated. if you do, thanks for reviewing anyway :)

-Xiaoyukaede


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